People, people, people, what is going on over there? I leave the country, and all hell breaks loose. Here are a collection of headlines from the past few days:

NY Times, April 23:

Libya Could Become Stalemate, Mullen Warns

Print Headline: Chairman of Joint Chiefs Warns of Possibility of a Stalemate in Libya Despite a mixed assessment, officials said no great change in tactics was planned in NATO-led air operations.

(Well, duh. Who knew??? I thought we were NATO was going to be in and out in a month, just like Irag and Afghanistan.)

From the Detroit Free Press, by way of the Ann Arbor News, today:

DETROIT FREE PRESS: Rick Snyder's plan for school reform includes cash rewards, online classes.

(Oh, yeah. That'll work. Especially the online classes part.)

From the Ann Arbor News:

Gas price up 6 cents since Monday, AAA Michigan says; statewide average now $4.04

From today's Lansing State Journal:

Lansing"s potential closing list for schools growing

Wainwright and Wexford elementary schools and the Harley Franks Early Childhood Center may join Bingham Elementary and Otto Middle School on the Lansing School Districts' possible closing list.

From the MEA Voice Online, and my personal favorite:

House panel takes up bill to repeal tenure
Committee meets again Wednesday.

School districts that want to fire ineffective teachers usually win tenure cases, a lawyer representing more than 400 districts testified today before the House Education Committee.

The committee is considering House Bill 4241, a bill to repeal the Teacher Tenure Act. Today, several people testified about teacher tenure and more will do so Wednesday. The committee also plans to consider House Bills 4465 and 4466, legislation to toughen teacher strike penalties.

I guess we're going to pay for the wars by taking it off the backs of those lazy-ass, overpaid, overdemanding teachers . . .

In this part of the world, American education is considered the best of the best. It is deucedly hard to explain to people what's going on here with school funding; nobody can understand why the government would cut the education budget. And when it comes to higher ed, subjects like our reliance on contingent faculty just result in blank looks - I don't know whether people don't understand, or they don't believe me.

Anyway, at this remove, I have to say that my country looks very strange, indeed.